Off-loading files to secondary or cloud storage (target storage) should not come at the expense of end-user experience or application compatibility. Leonovus Smart Filer achieves data transparency by ensuring that off-loaded files are accessible in the same way as those that remain on the original file server.
Files that have not been off-loaded are served directly by the primary file server. Users see off-loaded files with the same properties and contents as when the files were stored on the primary server. However, when users open an off-loaded file, they are redirected transparently to the target storage from which the files are retrieved. The user experience in opening a file remains unchanged, with only a possible slight delay, depending on the latency associated with accessing the target storage.
FEATURES
Smart Links
When off-loading a file from the primary file server to target storage, Smart Filer leaves an industry-standard symbolic link in its place. When users and applications request access to the file, the link transparently redirects them to Smart Filer, which serves the file from target storage. All interactions for users and applications with off-loaded files remain the same as with files on the primary server.
Metadata Preservation
For true transparency, all standard metadata for any file offloaded to target storage must remain unchanged. This requirement includes the file’s owner, permissions, and access control list, as well as its creation date, modified date and last-access data. By enforcing consistency of metadata, Smart Filer ensures a completely transparent data access across primary and target storage.
Retrieval
Retrieving data from cloud storage can result in data egress fees. To minimize costs, Smart Filer caches files that have been retrieved such that subsequent requests for the files do not result in additional cloud-related fees. Furthermore, Smart Filer allows you to remove files from secondary storage and repatriate them to primary storage.